ALOFT: AH-100 Build (new title)

[Wayne]

OK - I'll admit I was not sure if my dihedral brace design was going to be easy to build or not. Was pretty sure I was going to have to tweak the design, but wow it works so well that even a dry fit is pretty much a perfect fit and hold the correct angle. The center ribs and brace are just dry fit, not glued in these photos. I can't tell you how happy I am over this welcome surprise.

 

[G-man]

Wowee. Truly cool.
Is the dihedral brace plywood or another material?

 

[Wayne]

Yes, plywood. Nice and simple.

 

[Wayne]

I've been asked for a status update.

No change since the photos above. Simply have not had any time to jump back into this, but do want to.

The goal will be to sell a full kit. For now just working on the wing. May well develop our own tail parts for the kit and just use the Prelude fuselage.

Our current push is some EF-1 designs from Red and also Ed's 4 Meter D-light project. Ed is really wanting to see that project finished, and we have a LOT of time invested into it at this point with 2 flying prototypes. We are just in a polishing phase right now, but you know how polishing goes. Yesterday we worked up a new tail design that should give a better look and a bit better performance too, and the wing is getting similar treatment. At this point is is mostly cosmetics and a few final touches.

So while the AH-100 is close, it will be slow going forward with it. I also have a 2 meter design closely related to the AH-100 wing, but the goals are a little higher all around performance than the 100. I have my fuselages here for that project ready to go.

 

[Wayne]

Build night - Got a little more done. Intercostals going in.

They are doing the trick, torsional stability is much improved. In the photo above the shorter tip section has a more twist than the longer middle section. At this point this wing is still built from 100% CA. Dihedral brace is working very nicely, good strength across the joint. Again, just thin CA.. Epoxy will be the suggested glue.

 

[Wayne]

Ran across this video the other day and thought you all might enjoy it.

 

[G-man]

> Build night - Got a little more done. Intercostals going in.

It really does look fantastic to see the AH-100 wing fitted to the PRELUDE fuselage.
It gets my juices flowing.

 

[G-man]

WHICH WOODEN WING?

Which stick-built balsa wing should I mount on my beautiful fiberglass fuselage to create a custom floater e-sailplane?

I finally got to fly the OLYMPIC-II wing and the RISER-100 wing on the same day.

CONCLUSIONS: Their performance is far more similar to each other than different.
Both designs serve their purpose of giving us a floater airframe.

That said, I think the OLY is a little quicker, penetrates headwinds a bit better, and might have an edge in
maneuverability responsiveness, while the RISER delivers a flatter glide and a longer hang time.
Turbulator spars at work? Wider chord on the tip panels?

WING WEIGHT OLYMPIC-II: 65.4 grams with 5/16 inch wing rod and transparent covering
WING WEIGHT RISER-100: 74.5 grams with 1/4 inch wing rod and opaque covering

CORRECTION: DECIMALS WERE INSERTED BY MISTAKE. SHOULD BE:
WING WEIGHT OLYMPIC-II: 654 grams with 5/16 inch wing rod and transparent covering
WING WEIGHT RISER-100: 745 grams with 1/4 inch wing rod and opaque covering

One strong impression from the test day is that for me the red and white scheme was much more visible at a distance than the transparent yellow.

RED rudder tail is OEM from TOPMODEL. Yellow tail is a Clarence Ashcraft horizontal and a homemade rudder. NO NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE IN PERFORMANCE.


I can hardly wait to try the Aloft AH-100 wing.

Meantime, I'm wondering how the Mark's Models WANDERER 99 wing would perform.

Oz : Wanderer 99 plan - free download

outerzone.co.uk

 

[u2builder]

I am puzzled by the weights listed. Are the weights for the wing only, or the entire plane, ready to fly, Are the units (grams) correct?

 

[G-man]

CORRECTION TO MESSAGE 128: DECIMALS WERE INSERTED BY MISTAKE. SHOULD BE:
WING WEIGHT OLYMPIC-II: 654 grams with 5/16 inch wing rod and transparent covering
WING WEIGHT RISER-100: 745 grams with 1/4 inch wing rod and opaque covering

BETTER NUMBERS:
PRELUDE FUSELAGE WITH OLYMPIC-2 WING: RTF ALL UP WEIGHT WITH 4s 2200 PACK: 1472 grams / 52 ounces
PRELUDE FUSELAGE WITH RISER-100 WING: RTF ALL UP WEIGHT WITH 4s 2200 PACK: 1416 grams / 50 ounces

These weights are closer to the factory specified weights for the PRELUDE (has 4 servos in the wing)
and the PRELUDE REF (1 servo in the wing), and mine carry a pretty hefty 4-cell 2200 battery pack.

 

[u2builder]

That is about the same weight as the Oly II I built from a wooden kit and added a motor. Mine balanced without lead and a 1500 mah 3S. It was covered with Monokote transparent with the color scheme on the box. I don't remember the electronics, but I think a Dualsky motor, Emax servos and 40 A Hobby Wing Funfly ESC, Frsky RX and reundancy RX, spoilers. It was 50 oz and flew well on it's maiden about three years ago.. It looks so good hanging from the ceiling in our porch. I am mostly into 2m gliders since I can transport them with wings on, and they take up less space, to store, and are appropriate to our small field. Still, the Oly is a wonderful glider and I need to get it out again along with a BOT I built the same winter and is also on display in our porch, shamefully not even maidened. Our field was underwater from floods half of last year and the grass was killed. It is not going to be very nice to land a fabric covered glider on a dirt field. Oh well.

 

[G-man]

The original box label scheme sure looks good.

 

[Sandman]

It will be interesting to what the new design wing weights with a carbon fiber rod.

 

[Wayne]

Been making very little progress on the AH-100 project. Just had other things to focus on. But we decided the main spar was just too massive, so while I was in there I redesigned the center spar assembly and actually am very pleased as it is now lighter and stronger.

Will build up the left panel in the new configuration, so will have a little heavier right hand panel using the slightly older design. Honestly, they will probably be within a few grams of one another. No big changes here.

Not much else to report.

 

[Wayne]

Finally built up the left wing. We made a few changes on this one to test out.

Basically reduced the amount of carbon on the center section, and tried something a little different for the dihedral brace. Still need to add the angled supports. Still plenty of spar. Think we will try something different for the brace, I'd like a better solution.

 

[G-man]

Fabulous.
I love it.
// Dave

 

[Wayne]

The guys are loving it at the shop. I told them I was thinking of some changes and they did not approve. I guess that is a good sign when people that around this stuff all day like it.

 

[Wayne]

Finally installed the wing joiner. Woohoo!

Need to finish sanding and cleaning things up a bit and then I can cover her! Hopefully tomorrow, want to fly her at our Sunset event.

 

[gnichola]

Lookin' cool! Git-R-Done!

 

[Wayne]

Finished the sanding and ready to cover. Using Flying Film.

One side done.


A customer stopped by with a stock Prelude wing that had a little boo-boo. I was shocked how small it is in comparison to our wings. Yes, we went for a lot of wing area!